BHAWANIPATNA: Blood Bank is a prime component of any major hospital. But it has turned the weakest service provider in District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) here. Besides having insufficient stock, the Blood Bank does not have a single unit of rare groups on the date.According to sources, a very high number of cases related to Sickle Cell anaemia, Thalassemia, accident and delivery are reported in the DHH. But the hospital finds it tough to provide treatment to the patients due to lack of availability of blood in the Blood Bank which has a capacity to store 1,000 units.
Lack of voluntary blood donors and manpower in the blood bank are attributed as the reason behind the crisis. As per official reports, as against requirement of about 12,000 units of blood per annum, 9,633 units were collected in 2017 of which, only 2,493 units were collected through voluntary donation and the rest was through replacement donors. Similarly till September this year, 7,485 units have been collected.
It includes 2,302 units from voluntary donors. As per the the protocol specified by National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), 25 per cent of blood collected by a Blood Bank has to be kept aside as buffer stock to be used only in case of emergency. However, the DHH Blood Bank has kept a buffer stock of just 20 units to meet emergency cases like Sickle Cell anaemia patients and accident victims.
Under these circumstances, professional donors fleece people by charging a heavy amount for the blood. Although professional donation is unethical and illegal, people turn to them in desperation and pay `2,500 to `3,000 per unit of blood. Sometimes, patients in need of blood go to other districts to get transfusion done.
Making things worse, the Blood Bank has only one officer against the sanctioned two posts and of six technicians, two have been deputed to other wards of the DHH.Blood Bank Officer Dr Sidheswar Marandi said unless voluntary blood donations increase, the Blood Bank will continue to suffer.
He said there is a need to create awareness among people about blood donation. Only 60 to 70 blood donation camps are organised by DHH and other organisations every year. “There are voluntary blood donors like Pravin Agarwal, Pradip Dhangada Majhi, Sachi Mahakud, Sunil Kumar Satpathy, Sabitri Moharana and Alok Sahu who are helping us by frequently donating blood voluntarily and motivating others to do so,” he said.